Description
The elevation of southern Sweden did not entirely block the flow across central Sweden. Some egress continued from the lake through the Göta and Steinselva rivers, which exit Lake Vänern to the Kattegat. Salt water did not enter the lake, however, which became entirely fresh as the lake rose above sea level. The date at which the flow was certainly blocked is about 8000 BP, when nearby Lake Vättern (part of the waterway system) became dissevered from Ancylus lake.
The result of increasing lake levels was the Ancylus transgression, a general flooding around its shores, 9500–9200 BP. By this time a somewhat larger Gulf of Bothnia and parts of Norway were free of ice, while the Rovaniemi region of Finland appeared no later than 9000 BP, despite the new flooding.
Accelerated melting and landforms rebounding at different rates in different locations led to some instability. By 9200 BP the lake rose over the Dars sill and cut a new channel in the vicinity of what is now the "Great Belt" (the channel between the Danish islands Zealand and Funen), which some geologists call the Dana River. For a time, Skåne, or southern Sweden, was an island once more, from about 9200 to no later than 8000 BP. The lake level began to drop.
Read more about this topic: Ancylus Lake
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